NTL Customer Service Abysmal

XJR

Hi ,

I got NTL digital in about a month ago and they were extra fast in installing it.

However for the past 24 hours or so the TV has been unwatchable. Tonight I rang NTL and was holding for 20 before I got through. The guy was friendly enough and went through a few things to see if he could sort it but couldnt.

He finally tells me that he will have to send someone out and the bad news is that won't be until June 13 (this is June 7). Obviously I tell him it's not good enough and he funnily enough agrees. I ask to speak to a supervisor and am told he won't transfer me. In my book neither is good enough - they were quick off the mark to install the box but now they have the money they couldn't care less.

Cut a long story short anyone got a direct dial number for someone in NTL? I don't care who's number it is but obvsiouly the more senior the better and if they work in customer service that also would be good.

Thanks in advance

tvless

sportaholic

I have always found that too, installation service is really good but the support is a joke. If the magic yellow button does not fix the problem expect a long wait for a call out.

Sorry don't have a direct number, I asked to speak to a supervisor the last time I called them too but "he was out" :rolleyes:

Gatsby

Count yourself lucky only having to wait 6 days.

My NTL has been down for three weeks (no reception at all) and i'm still waiting for an engineer to come out.

subway

ask for cancellations, they are the most senior people in there.
then demand to be put on the priority list (they leave 1 appt free in every area every day for customers who are about to cancel)

tell them your mate next door just got sky and its 10 times better.
i went through all of this, after 3 months, 13 bills* and 2 threats from my solictior they eventually agreed the service was never going to work and refunded all the money they had charged me.

*they managed to set up 3 accounts on my address, geniuses that they are.

XJR

sportaholic wrote:

If the magic yellow button does not fix the problem expect a long wait for a call out.

OK noone mentioned the yellow button what's the story with that ?

sportaholic

Press Help on your remote and then the yellow button

All it does is restart the box I was being flippant as any time anyone rings NTL up even if their aerial has fallen off the roof they always say "press the yellow button"

I think its all they know (even though it does solve a few minor problems)

brightspark

Your lucky you even have a "magic yellow button".
Chorus have often asked me if I have switched it off and on again even though since I only have the analog chorus intro package there isn't even a box just a simple cable.

Gadgie

They really are the pits.

I cancelled my account by email because I was moving house, got a reply a couple of weeks later saying that someone from the cancellations department would contact me. They never did.

I moved out but had my mail forwarded to the new address. Got a bill for another two months (€121) and the money was taken out of my account. Rang up to complain and after an age on hold I finally got through to cancellations (they must be busy!), spoke to a nice enough guy who told me that the account was closed and that they would refund the last bill in full, so I was happy enough with that.

Got a new bill at my new address which billed me for service until two days AFTER I had called to cancel and said I was due a partial refund.

Emailed them again to complain and threatened legal action if they did not refund the bill in full. They replied the next day saying that I would be issued a refund cheque. Told them this wasn't good enough and I wanted it credited to my bank account where it was taken from, if that meant their finance department had to lodge the cheque themselves then so be it. Got another email asking for my account details so someone could lodge the cheque! Checked my online banking tonight and it hasn't been paid in yet, but I'll give them another few days before I complain again.

Wasters!

I.J.

6 days?, you are lucky, i had to wait 16 days 2 months back and i live in the dun laoghaire area where you would expect a speedier response.

NTL are a joke, a pathetic excuse for a digital provider. They are an embaressment to the world of digital tv. they are a disgrace and should be ashamed of themselves. they put up the price and then take away channels they sold. men and motors for example has been gone for 6 weeks even though the sign is still up for it. NTL are a terrible terrible service and everybody should switch to sky who provide the best selection of channels, more than double that of ntl, and are still the same price and have a much better epg service and customer service and just look more modern and work faster. when my 12 month contract with ntl is up, thats what i am doing.

SteM

Gadgie wrote:

Told them this wasn't good enough and I wanted it credited to my bank account where it was taken from, if that meant their finance department had to lodge the cheque themselves then so be it. Got another email asking for my account details so someone could lodge the cheque! Checked my online banking tonight and it hasn't been paid in yet, but I'll give them another few days before I complain again.

I know you were annoyed with them and rightly so but insisting they lodge the cheque was the wrong move imo. It'll add another 2 weeks onto whatever time they would have taken to get the cheque to you. They really are that bad.

The missus has an offer through work for half price sky for 4 months so I think we might switch to them as the Sky+ install has come down to €45 and they'll be dropping the sky+ sub soon.

bazzer

I.J. wrote:

6 days?, you are lucky, i had to wait 16 days 2 months back and i live in the dun laoghaire area where you would expect a speedier response.

Eh, why would you expect a speedier response just because you're in Dún Laoghaire?

Gadgie

SteM wrote:

I know you were annoyed with them and rightly so but insisting they lodge the cheque was the wrong move imo. It'll add another 2 weeks onto whatever time they would have taken to get the cheque to you. They really are that bad.

I don't agree - if I had to lodge the cheque myself I'd have to take time off work to go to the bank, so I'd be docked wages for the hour or so it would take. I've never paid ntl by cheque as they require payment by direct debit, so why should I have to accept one from them?

SteM

Gadgie wrote:

I don't agree - if I had to lodge the cheque myself I'd have to take time off work to go to the bank, so I'd be docked wages for the hour or so it would take. I've never paid ntl by cheque as they require payment by direct debit, so why should I have to accept one from them?

I'm just saying they have set ways of working and if you ask them to deviate from those ways you're asking for trouble, that's all.

Traumadoc

I rang the main office - not the technical support -Let off abit of steam with the girl at reception asked to speak to the complaints department.-things got done very quickly. Its not a nice way to deal with people but it seems its the only way that works.

XJR

I've decided that even if it's just on a point of principle I couldn't give NTL any more money so I've signed up with SKY. I'm not to thrilled about having a dish on the roof but what can you do? ok lots I know broadband tv etc.

So the NTL guy is calling today - good luck to him I won't be there and as soon as SKY is installed (they're coming 20/06) I'm going to stop paying NTL and tell them I want them to get all their cabling off my house. If they think they can get away with that sort of service without any repercussions then they can think again.

Moojuice

My TV and Broadband has been gone for a month and they are not doing anything to fix it. Do you have the main office number? I am going to try that route.

Ger the man

The reason that the service is so bad is because they have the monopoly and hence dont care! I was with ntl and cancelled months ago (it took about 10 ph calls being passed from billy to jack and letters to do this). Bills kept coming in and I simply sent them back telling them what i thought of there service (also reminding them of my sister being a solicitor).

Yellow Gypsy

Is Sky the only alternative?
I want to get broadbank and TV bundled together, but am being put off by all the negative feedback I'm hearing about NTL. Anyone know of any other providers I can go with?

Thanks

Sponge Bob

magnet do tv and dsl over phone line in the big cities

dubal

Just had another NTL classic, rang NTL cos my service isnt working... (nother long story)

anyhow, I am on hold for 20 minutes "all of our customer service agents are on calls at the minute. Please hold....."

So I start surfing, and find out customer service stopped at 8, though not even a hint on the phone :mad:

Dubali

RAIN

I jst got NTL yesterday and have had no service yet !!Iv spoken too customer care 3 times who tel me there is a nation wide issue with new connections and there sorry,is this what i am to expect?should i just cancel it or what.Such a frustrating experience especially when your given no update when you wait 10 mins at least to get through to them.

XJR

RAIN wrote:

I jst got NTL yesterday and have had no service yet !!Iv spoken too customer care 3 times who tel me there is a nation wide issue with new connections and there sorry,is this what i am to expect?should i just cancel it or what.Such a frustrating experience especially when your given no update when you wait 10 mins at least to get through to them.

Absolutely that is what you can expect and yes you should cancel it. Believe iut or not but their sales department is far more efficient than the customer service department so it's only going to get worse. I've had this much admitted to me on the phone several times.

Do yourself a favour and go to sky or magnet or just get a rabbit ears in the long run it will be less pain.

RAIN

Its now 5 days after i got the boxes in my house,7 calls ,5 lies !!! and 2 Team Leaders later they called today to say it should be set up by the time i get home.If its not i want it outa my house.I work in Data Support centre and i have never seen customer support as bad as NTL!!I have a pain in my brain from talking to them!!

RAIN

I swear to god iv never been treated so badly for something i have payed for!!!I just got hung up on by a TEAM LEADER!! i told him her id rather cancel then wait another day for service and she said said fine il get someone to call you tomorow and hung up!!!BI*CH.Has anyone else had an experience like this ?Lied to 3 times in one day fobbed off 7 times in the last 5 days and had no service since they brought the piece of crap into my house !!!!!!!!!!!!?and when i told her i have 2 boxes she pretty much told me i was wrong???Prime time or someone should do a piece on these scum bags.

miju

RAIN wrote:

I swear to god iv never been treated so badly for something i have payed for!!!I just got hung up on by a TEAM LEADER!!

as someone who worked in a call centre myself I'd be willing to bet the reason she hung up was because you were shouting , swearing or generally being abusive.

I cancelled my NTL a good while ago and was able to cancel with one simple phone call. However, found other providers worse so have actually gone back to NTL with they broadband and phone package and so far so good. IMO they seem to have sorted ot reliablity issues in the Finglas area so I'm happy at the mo.

XJR

miju wrote:

I'd be willing to bet the reason she hung up was because you were shouting , swearing or generally being abusive.

It's very difficult not be extremely angry, shout and perhaps even swear when dealing with NTL.

Pehaps if they offered somthing even remotely akin to decent customer service and didn't have you on hold for 30 minutes everytime you ring we might be a bit more sympathetic to the plight of the guy on the other end of the phone.

RuggieBear

bazzer wrote:

Eh, why would you expect a speedier response just because you're in Dún Laoghaire?

I'd guess he was thinking that as it was within a major urban area and not a one off house up a mountain in Wicklow or somewhere like that

RAIN

If my MOTHER treated me the way NTL have id be abusive towards her! never mind some smart ass TL who tells me i dont have 2 boxes when im looking straight at the things!!I was not abusive and i did not swear at her.She hung up at the end of the call after i mentioned i wanted to leave.I have also worked in a call centre and have never heard anyone being treated as bad as i have been.None of the previous interactions wer viewable by the csr i spoke too because NTL have something like 4 call centres ,the technical support dont have any web based systems to provision/fix a problem on there network,they seem to be trained to lie to you,all they can do is excalate a problem via trouble ticket to another department so everttime you call all you get is ''il just add some notes'' and nobody takes ownership of your problem so you dont even get to know when its fixed!!!Worse is they knew this problem was ongoing when they installed the thing on saturday!!!!! Realy miju i know every argument needs to be balanced but dear christ .

Solair

Sadly it just means yet more customers leave and go to Sky. UPC really should start looking at the customer service issues that are in that organisation.

There's nothing particularly new about shockingly poor customer service from them either.

We had Cork Multichannel years ago (before the chorus rebrand) and the customer service was absolutely woeful. Rude, unhelpful, take it or leave it attitude adopted all the time.

When Sky Digital became a viable alternative, particularly when BBC was added, there were loads of people I know who were enthusiastically switching over and waving Chorus good bye for ever after years of terrible service.

The Chorus rebrand and reorganisation seemed to improve nothing. The company simply seems to have centralised into a limerick call centre and kept all of the same old bad habits.

Now with UPC Ireland having centralised NTL's customer care into that same Limerick centre, it seems the same standards of poor customer service are now being experienced by everyone.

If someone from UPC is reading this board, perhaps they might bring it up at a senior level.
I really think the one thing UPC could do to have an edge over sky is drastically improve customer service. People will remain loyal to cable/mmds if the support and service is good. As it stands, without triple play services in the majority of areas, UPC has no advantages to offer.

With MMDS in particular, I can really see no reason why anyone would stick with it and not go to Sky Digital given the level of utter crap they have to put up from UPC (NTL/Chorus)'s customer 'support' team.

The worrying bit is that if they don't do something to improve the situation they will end up loosing customers and possibly going into liquidation. It's in their interest to make drastic changes.

Alun

My own experiences of ntl:'s own call centre before the UPC takeover were all quite positive. I only really ever called when the service was down, and there was always a recorded message when you chose the 'report a fault' option that listed all the areas where problems or routine works were happening together with an expected end time, when known. I also rang a couple of other times, once with a billing query that was sorted out with no bother at all, and once to order digital which also went completely smoothly and was completed within two days.

From what I can gather, the call centre that you now get through to is not the old ntl: one (which has been disbanded), but the old chorus one which I remember from my time in Greystones was a complete shambles. They ideally should have done it the other way around, and dumped the chorus call centre and retained the ntl: one.

zilog_jones

Their current call centre is in Roxboro in Limerick - from what other people have said here it's the only one now. Once Channel 4 go FTA I don't think I'll bother with cable.

RAIN

I asked them last night and i was told they had one in limerick one in tipp one in galway and another the guy didnt know where.From what i gather these are all front line centres and if theres a problem they escalate it onto another customer support team( who i got a call from today).They said again it should be set up and AGAIN that i only have one box!!!wtf??I have told them 2 times i have two boxes and gave the numbers on the boxes and the cards to them over the phone!!I dont care what anyone says there support is a joke as of 21/06/07.

brightspark

I got a call this morning from UPC regarding an email I sent them on the 4th complaining about how long I was left on hold and asking them to provide an alternative to the "lo-call" number.

Your message

To: Customer Service
Subject: phone call charges
Sent: Mon, 4 Jun 2007 20:14:27 +0100

was read on Sat, 23 Jun 2007 10:44:09 +0100

The rep told me that they have now hired additional personnel and callers won't be left on hold as long.

She also incorrectly told me that there is no alternative to the 1890 417 888 number

I had to ring later today to complain about a "frozen" picture on UTV and "061-272120" worked.

RAIN

7 days now iv been waiting for my new NTL digital to start working,and now i have to wait till next thursday to get a technician to call out:( I am drained and CERTAIN im gna get a bill from these scum bags when t i havent had service since day one.I have been promised at least 3 credits from csr's but from what i hear il never see this.What can i do?I want to stick it out at this stage but im so frustrated .

XJR

RAIN wrote:

What can i do?I want to stick it out at this stage but im so frustrated .

Vote with your feet - this could go on for weeks - why pay heard earned cash to a company that has no respect for you ? From the time I contacted Sky to the day the did the installation was 7 days . If I were you I'd be looking for alternatives.

MartMax

XJR wrote:

Vote with your feet - this could go on for weeks - why pay heard earned cash to a company that has no respect for you ? From the time I contacted Sky to the day the did the installation was 7 days . If I were you I'd be looking for alternatives.

Some of us are not very fortunate - me for eg. our apartment blocks are not allowed for satellite dishes - hence no Sky or its equivalent.

andrewh5

mart_max wrote:

Some of us are not very fortunate - me for eg. our apartment blocks are not allowed for satellite dishes - hence no Sky or its equivalent.

I'm in the same boat here - no dishes allowed on the development so NTL have the monopoly.

I recently changed banks & my new bank sent new direct debit mandates to all my suppliers. NTL lost it! Then they said it had never been sent. I gave their accounts department details over the phone to setup a new one - they didn't. They then sent me a bill which I received on a Saturday morning. I made the payment electronically through my bank and it left my account on the MOnday. NTL cut me off at 08:15 on the Tuesday!

I am now waiting on the phone to talk to a senior accounts manager. I will probably be waiting a long time. I have told them that I am involving my local TD. I am also going to go to every media company in the country until one of them makers an issue about NTl's total lack of care, respect and service to their customers.

Just been told that all the managers are in a meeting - surprise surprise.

Kotek Besar

mart_max wrote:

Some of us are not very fortunate - me for eg. our apartment blocks are not allowed for satellite dishes - hence no Sky or its equivalent.

I live in a 5 story apartment block. We are also not allowed sat dishes on the wall. I rang the management company, and they told me that I could put one on the roof, and if I went up there I'd see what the other residents have done. If I do the same, then so long as it's can't be seen from street level, it's grand so. I went up to the roof. Goodness me, scores of dishes across all the apartment blocks I could see! Satellite city! Could erecting a dish on the roof be an option for you?

paulm17781

andrewh5 wrote:

Just been told that all the managers are in a meeting - surprise surprise.

This to me is always an awful sign. It suggest that the managers don't even care about staff concerns. The best thing to do is try to get in touch with their manager.